Thursday Apple Rumors: Apple Is Now the Second Biggest Online Retailer

[1]Click Race: According to data compiled by e-commerce trade journal Internet Retailer, Apple’s (AAPL[2]) online sales hit $18.3 billion last year[3], the Wall Street Journal notes. That includes online iPhone, Mac, iPad and accessory sales, along digital content sales via iTunes and the App Store. Apple pushed ahead of office supply retailer Staples (SPLS[4]) to become the second largest online retailer. Staples generated $10.4 billion in online sales in 2013, up 1% from the prior year. Apple is now behind only Amazon (AMZN[5]) in online sales. However, Amazon is far ahead of any competition. Last year, Amazon sold a whopping $67.8 billion worth of goods online. Walmart (WMT[6]) came in fourth with $10 billion in online sales last year, but that was up 30% over the previous year.

Never-ending: Though a California jury awarded Apple just 6% of the damages it requested in its latest patent infringement trial against Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant plans to appeal the verdict[7], the Los Angeles Times notes. Last week, the jury found Samsung guilty of infringing on several Apple patents, but only awarded the iPhone-maker $119 million in damages. That was a lot less than the $2.2 billion Apple had demanded. It is also significantly less than the $930 million in damages that Apple won in its last patent lawsuit against Samsung. The jury also found that Apple had violated one Samsung patent and awarded Samsung damages of just over $158,000, also a fraction of the $6 million Samsung was asking. “Of course, we’re pleased that the jury awarded Apple 6% of what they were asking for,” John Quinn, Samsung’s attorney, told the Los Angeles Times. “But even that can’t stand, because Apple kept out all the real-world evidence and didn’t produce anything to substitute for it, so you have a verdict that’s unsupported by evidence — and that’s just one of its problems.”

Disclosure: On Wednesday, Apple issued a new set of rules governing how it handles government requests for user data[8], ZDNet notes. Under the new rules — which Apple has made public[9] — Apple will notify users whose data has been requested, except in cases where a non-disclosure order has been issued. Apple will reveal basic user information — names, street addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. A user’s iTunes purchases and Internet data will be revealed under subpoenas and court orders. However, Apple says it will not disclose the content of user downloads without a search warrant. Apple said it can preserve user data for 90 days before it is deleted. Apple said it will only provide connection logs for mobile devices and does not retain GPS data on users’ mobile devices. Apple noted that SMS data, contacts, photos, videos, and a user’s telephone record can be accessed by law enforcement authorities, but that it cannot disclose the content of user emails or data from third party apps. Apple noted that it expects any data turned over to the government to be destroyed at the conclusion of the investigation or trial. Apple has also created an “Emergency Disclosure Form” for cases in which law enforcement data requests are intended to prevent “imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to any person [requiring disclosure] without delay.”

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.